NCAA: Easter Weekend Full of Upsets

In back to back weeks, the number one team in NCAA Men’s Division 1 lacrosse has fallen. #1 Notre Dame took on #20 St. John’s in South Bend in their first game after becoming the number one team. The Irish had a taste of the glory of being on top but were quickly brought back down to Earth by a big red storm. With 60 ticks left on the clock, Matt Kavanagh tried to help his team surge back by tallying two goals to bring his team within two. The clock showed zero’s and the luck had left the Irish as the Red Storm went on to win 12-10. Saint John’s was ranked #20 going into this game, but this win should bump them up a few spots.

OT is the Name of the Game

There were five games that went into overtime this weekend. Jacksonville barely escaped Detroit with a 9-8 victory. Providence snuck by Rutgers 10-9 and Hartford tallied for their fourth win of the season to make it to .500 over UMBC 15-14.

A big overtime upset was when Yale ooh down the mighty #13 Quakers in a 7-6 thriller. Eric Natale made a crucial save on Penn’s Drew Belinsky. Transition is a crucial part of the game and Penn realized that after the Bulldogs successfully cleared the ball and saw Brandon Mangan come form behind the cage to find Kirby Zdrill for the game winner. Penn is now 5-3 overall with Yale moving to 4-3 and both are 1-2 in Ivy League play.

North Carolina scored a lot of goals against Brown last week in their 18-12 victory. They may have wanted to save some for their game against Johns Hopkins as the #6 Tar Heels went toe to toe with the #8 Blue Jays. Likewise for the Jays as they came into the game off a 15-8 romping of Virginia a week before. If Hopkins learned anything it’s that face-offs are not just another part of the game, but if you can control the X, you will most likely come out victorious. That’s what R.G. Keenan found out when he won the OT face-off and scored just six seconds into overtime to give his team an 11-10 victory.

Shockers and Thrillers

Unranked Towson took down #15 Hofstra Pride 7-6 at Unitas Stadium for their third win in a row. Goalkeeper Andrew Wascavage recorded 19 saves on the night to lift his team over their CAA foe. The Tigers are 6-5 in regular season games and undefeated (2-0) in CAA contests. Hofstra, now 1-2 in the CAA and 6-4 overall.

Saint Joseph’s stole their win away against UMass in a 7-6 finish. Dustin Keen made 13 saves in the Hawks victory, compared to Zachary Oliveri’s 3 for the Minutemen. The teams were tied 4-4 heading into the second half. SJU tallied three goals to UMass’s one from Will Manny to take a 7-5 lead into the fourth. With under nine minutes to go, the Minutemen registered a goal to make it 7-6. Just like the UNC/Hopkins game, face-offs were crucial and Saint Joseph’s Will Abbott won the next face to put the win in the nest for the Hawks. Coach Wray’s team got their first win over a CAA opponent this season and move to 1-2 as Coach Cannellas team drops to 0-2 in conference play.

#16 Penn State traveled to the Philadelphia area to challenge Villanova in a big Pennsylvania matchup. Shane Sturgis recorded three assists while Tom Lacrosse tallied three goals in the Nittany Lions 7-6 conquest over the Wildcats. Goalkeeper Austin Kaut made 16 saves to keep a strong Nova offense at bay. Senior Jack Forster put up 2 goals, followed by one goal from Kyle Vanthof and Gavin Ahern. Scoring for the Wildcats came from John Kluh (1G, 3A), Max Hart (1G, 1A), Kevin O’Neal (2G) and Chris Piccirilli and Nick Doherty who had a goal each. Reed Carlson stopped 9/16 shots for Villanova.

Mount Saint Mary’s has fallen off the radar a little bit, losing three in a row, including their Northeast matchup against Sacred Heart in a 14-5 trouncing. The Schmidts combined for five points for The Mount. Matt Gannon and Mike Mawdsley each rallied for five points alone for the Pioneers while goaltender Jon Flood stood fast and stopped 14 of 19 shots. This is Sacred Hearts FIRST win of the 2013 season.

Sam Somers and the Army defense held their own against a powerful Colgate offense that only put up four goals. John Glesener scored five goals and had one assist as the Black Knights charged to a 10-4 victory over the Raiders. Foote, Brown and Walsh were the only scorers for Colgate as Baum was held pointless. Somers recorded 14 saves on the day for Army in their crucial Patriot League matchup.

High Point was down 7-3 at halftime versus Mercer, but found a spark that put the teams even at 10-10 heading into the fourth. Matt Thistle tallied to give the Panthers the lead before severe weather rolled in and delayed the game for 45 minutes. With 5:45 left in the game, Dan Lomas put the nail in the coffin and the Panthers walked away with a 12-10 win. Lomas posted four goals and one assist. Teammates Mitchell Dupree and Matt Thistle both picked up four points for High Point. Chris Baxa put up five points as well (4G, 1A). Mercer freshman goalie tied the programs single game record for most saves with 18

Four in a row now for the #14 Dragons out of Philadelphia as they escape the Blue Hens 11-10 after scoring three times in 25 seconds. Drexel performed a six goal fourth quarter to overcome a five goal deficit and became 8-2 as a result and leads the CAA with a 3-0 record. Delaware continues to struggle with closing out games. They are now 2-8 and have five one goal losses and are last in the CAA at 0-3.

Bellarmine only has two losses in their nine games of 2013. Fairfield had three going into this game. The Knights goalie, Dillon Ward, made an array of stops as he recorded 17 saves which was the big difference maker in the game. Tristin Sperry and Drew Federico combined for five goals for the Stags. Brogan Hill scored for the Knights to put them up 8-5. Federico responded with one of his two goals, followed by Sperry’s third and final goal to make it 8-7 with about six minutes left in the game. Ward and his defense stood their ground and fought off the Stags late attempts to pick up the victory. Fairfield drops to 2-1 in the ECAC with Bellarmine one spot ahead at 3-2.

Continuing Their Winning Streak

#10 Duke has been on fire since they topped Loyola in the beginning of March. They are now on a six game winning streak after downing Harvard 12-11. A huge note from their winning streak is the Dan Wigrizer has not seen time in cage since the thrashing the Blue Devils received from Maryland. Kyle Turri has stepped up big for Coach Danowski’s team and defense, who let up 59 goals in their first six games, letting twenty of those sneak by in their back to back losses versus Penn and Maryland. Since his performance against Loyola, Turri has been the go to in cage for Duke and they haven’t really looked back. Harvard loses their second in a row and drops to 4-5 overall as the Blue Devils take their record to 8-4.

Must Wins

#2 Maryland headed to Charlottesville to tango with rival #17 Virginia in an ACC showdown. Standing tall was Niko Amato as he recorded 14 saves and an assist in the Terps 9-7 routing of the Cavaliers. At one point, Maryland had a 5-1 lead that seemed to put things out of reach for the Wahoos. The Cavs tried climbing back but fell short. Nick O’Reilly tallied three points (1G, 2A) to lead Virginia, with Mark Cockerton and Ryan Tucker putting up two goals each. This is the second time since Dom Starsia became head coach of the Wahoos that they have lost four in a row. Coach Tillman’s squad needed this big win after being outgunned last week by ACC contender North Carolina in a 10-8 loss.

With their win, the #5 Loyola Greyhounds improved to 4-0 in ECAC play and 8-2 overall. #12 Ohio State had upset a lot of teams this season, including Penn State and Virginia. They looked to keep their upsets going against defending champions Loyola but couldn’t rally and dropped the contest 9-4. Greg Dutton made 14 saves on the day. Schuss, Planning and Brown were all held to only one goal. For Loyola, Ward and Pontrello picked up three points each, while Ratliff, Layne and Herreweyers all recorded one goal and one assist. Runkel stopped 9 of 13 shots.